The best Halloween ever!
by Wings of the Skies
Summary: When Light and Zack went for trick or treating together as sibling, they bumped intoo someone they never though they would see again. Their parents!


Happy Halloween! (Singapore time!) A new story to celebrate! ^^

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A smiled crept on my face as I saw the scene unravels outside my window at SOLDIERS head quarters. Pumpkins littered at every door step, and people roamed freely in costumes. Tonight was Halloween, our family's favorite festival. I remembered when mom and dad used to celebrate Halloween with us. Mom would make homemade caramel apples and dad would be in the kitchen carving out pumpkins for everyone. Once they were gone the holiday was never the same.

Everyone had recovered from the shock and we decided we wanted to celebrate our favorite festival. I let my hair loose and decided that I would dress as a girl for Halloween. Nobody but Genesis and Zack knew that I was a girl. It felt odd to be a girl again after trying to hide the fact for so many years. Hurriedly, I finished getting dressed and briefly examined myself in the mirror. It had been years since I last wore my outfit from the Fal'Cie days. After checking everything over I walked over to central quarters where I everyone else was waiting.

"Light!" exclaimed Dawn. "Wow you look different in your old clothes."

"Yea, it's been a while since I last wore these," I replied.

I looked around and saw that everyone was there: Dawn, Pandora, Zack, Serah, and Arc. Everyone was smiling.

Despite being parentless Dawn and Pandora had done a great job raising us. It was surprising how they had coped with our parents' deaths considering their age. They grew up too fast, and took on the role of becoming our 'parents'. Dawn and Pandora were the oldest, being eighteen. I was next, aged sixteen, Zack was fifteen, Serah was fourteen and Arc had just turned ten when they passed on.

We all decided that it would be best to leave the SOLDIER headquarters for the day. We thought the best place was our hometown. It had been years since I last visited it. Despite being a SOLDIER, I had agreed to the idea of going trick-or-treating with everyone. It certainly brought back memories of the days when mom and dad would take us out, Serah and I.

Even with all the laughter we shared, it didn't feel the same without them.

I ended up paired with Zack while Dawn and Pandora each took on one of the younger ones.

"Claire," Zack whined, "Do you even know where we are? I barely remember this street."

"Zack! I'm not Claire anymore, remember that!" I snapped. "And besides, we've been living here ever since we were born. You should know this place like the back of your hand!"

It was the truth after all; we'd never moved anywhere in the duration of our childhood. Even when our parents died, Dawn and Pandora decided that it was best to stay here. I remembered them teaching us the whole neighborhood and streets and shortcuts so we would never get lost.

My thoughts were abruptly cut off when Zack suddenly let out a small yelp. "L-L-Light… Look!" he whispered his eyes wide. He lifted a hand and pointed.

"Zack! Cut it out! Stop being a baby or I'll-" My threat died on my lips as I stared ahead of us with my mouth wide open.

A beautiful woman with long blonde hair appeared in front of us, and beside her stood by a dark hair man. My eyes were wide, just like Zack's. I never thought that I would ever see them again.

"M-Mom? D-d-dad?" I managed to stutter out.

They approached us with smiles on their faces. Without hesitation, they embraced us, and I could feel the warmth of their love…

"I guess the girls did a great job raising you up!" Dad said approvingly. Almost reluctantly, they let go, and I could see that in their eyes shone pride.

"Of course! I expect nothing less from our girls! They have my genes of course!" Mom replied him teasingly, smiling at us. She reached out to touch my face briefly, and then moved it to ruffle Zack's hair. I couldn't deny the smile that found its way on my face. It was years since I last felt so happy.

"Tell your sisters that they did a fine job raising you two," she spoke proudly. "I'm impressed by her skills! It takes a lot of strength to take on so much responsibility all of a sudden... But I'm proud of all you girls, and Zack too. I know Serah and Arc are doing fine."

Zack and I nodded same time; on his face mirrored the joy of seeing our parents for the last time…

Were they fading away, or was there something wrong with my eyes? Yes, they were - I was gripped with the fear that I would never see them again. I reached out...

"Mom! Will we be able to see you again?" I heard Zack ask, in a desperate tone.

Our father smiled gently. "We will always live in your memories. Remember that you'll never be alone."

"We love you," Mom whispered. She was already so faded that I had to squint to see her expression. I tried to take a picture with my mind, to remember it forever. "You are the greatest gifts we've ever received. We're sorry that we have to leave." At the same time, they both reached out and brushed their lips against our foreheads. I shut my eyes, fixing that memory into my mind.

When I opened my eyes again, they were gone. Suddenly, the streets felt empty despite all the people milling about around us, ignoring us completely.

But I now knew that they would live on through our memories. Looking at Zack, I could tell that he was missing them terribly too.

Suddenly, we didn't want to be out here anymore. An unspoken consent passed between us, and we bolted back home to find that everyone had come back from their sweet-collecting.

"Hey Zack! You're home early!" Pandora called from the stairs.

Arc was sitting on Dawn's lap with Serah beside her.

"Dawn," Zack spoke, his words rushed, "I saw Mom and Dad tonight and Mom said you did a fine job raising us. She was proud of all of us," he added to the room at large.

Our older sister smiled. Her face was contented. "I know Zack. They came to us earlier. She told me."

All of us gathered together that night, talking about the happy times. We stayed up all night to recall our childhood, and our parents.

Talking about them made me feel like they were still here somehow.

As the night drew to a close and morning arose, I headed up stairs to my old bedroom. It had been a long time since I had last entered this room; it felt almost foreign to me. I was too used to sharing my room with Genesis and have a room filled with weapons, maps and equipment for missions. This room displayed my lost childhood. There were no weapons or guns, but instead a vanity table that stood beside a single bed. I quickly changed into my uniform and got ready to head back to SOLDIER headquarters.

Just as I was about to turn the doorknob, the door flew open, knocking me onto the floor. Wincing, I scrambled to my feet, half-expecting someone to start shooting at me.

When I heard a loud smack, I looked up in surprise to see Zack rubbing the back of his head. "Owww… Sorry Light," Zack mumbled. I suppressed a grin, noting that Pandora's hand was still in the air, as though waiting for him to mess up again so she could smack him for the second time in an hour.

Dawn watched me curiously. "Thinking about mom and dad, Claire?" she asked with a small smile. I supposed she was either a mind-reader or just really good at reading leftover expressions.

I nodded. "Yea, I miss them."

"Me too… Mom told me that they couldn't come back ever. We're all grown up now and last night would be the last night they were ever coming back…" Pandora said, lowering her hand. She sounded downcast.

"I know they'll always be in my heart…" I murmured, with a small, contented smile.

"And ours too!" Serah agreed chirpily. I looked at my younger sister, and smiled again. Dawn nodded in agreement, and squeezed Serah's shoulder lightly.

I noticed that everyone had gathered in my room. We were together once again...

For the first time a long time, I felt like we were a family. Without even speaking, we all knew that we would move onto separate paths, but we would still be together – all of us… and our parents, because they would always be alive within us, forever.

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A review pls!


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